Why does Kenya attract large numbers of visitors? The country is fortunate in having two different environments that are both attractive to foreign visitors:
wildlife parks on the plateau
Indian Ocean coastline
In a typical two-week holiday to Kenya, people spend one week on safari ad one week on the coast. 80% of visitors say the principal reason for visiting Kneya is the wildlife.
Benefits:
inflow of foreign exchange
provides a multipiler effect to toher parts of the economy
tourism increases demand for goods and services in agriculture, drinks, transport, entertainment, textiles and carfts
provides jobs
money can move into the hands of local people directly through tourist buying from market stalls and using taxis
tourism protects the wildlife - if there was no demand for tourists to visit the wildife the Kenyan Government would not protect it
Problems:
Economic - visitor numbers go up and down
The tourist industry in Kenya is not stable and the numbers go up and down through highs and crashes. The reason numbers may crash is as a result of terroist attacks in Mombasa as in 2002 and from political unrest as a result of a disrupted election result.
Environmental damage
coral reefs - anchors when dropped damage the coral, tourists break off the coral for souvenirs
game parks - the drivers and tourists are keen to get as close a possible to the wildlife and leave the main tracks and armies of minibuses can surround the animals. The minibuses churn the ground when it is wet leaving to soil erosion in the dry summer months
8000 visitors in the park at any one time which can scare the animals and their numbers have started to drop
poaching
Social - conflicts with local people
conflicts between local tribespeople (the Masai) and the Kenyan authorities - when the game parks were set up the Masai were driven off of their land to amke way for the wild animals. Recently rapid population growth of the Masai and shortages of grazing land mean the Masai are living very close to the national parks edge. Elephants trample their crops and lions eat their livestock. Occasionally people are killed by the wildlife but generally it is the wildlife which suffers in human/wildlife conflicts
Strategies for the future
diversify the country's tourist product range, by opening up new avenues of tourism, such as adventure activities on rivers and lakes (rafting, canoeing, sailing and cruising)
achieve a better distribution of tourist activities throughout the country to reduce environmental pressure on tourist hot spots
the numbers of tourist in the Masai Mara park are reduced - this has been done by increasing admission prices and increasing the prices for staying at hotels and campsites
encouraging ecotourism making sure they use skills and knowledge of local people
Why does Kenya attract large numbers of visitors?
In a typical two-week holiday to Kenya, people spend one week on safari ad one week on the coast. 80% of visitors say the principal reason for visiting Kneya is the wildlife.
Benefits:
Problems:
Economic - visitor numbers go up and down
The tourist industry in Kenya is not stable and the numbers go up and down through highs and crashes. The reason numbers may crash is as a result of terroist attacks in Mombasa as in 2002 and from political unrest as a result of a disrupted election result.
Environmental damage
Social - conflicts with local people
Strategies for the future